


Fortune Favours The Bold

by Farra13



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Developing Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Lust, Mass Effect 2, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Slow Burn, Smut, explicit content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-10
Updated: 2015-07-10
Packaged: 2018-04-08 16:34:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4312389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Farra13/pseuds/Farra13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Elissa Shepard diverts the Normandy to Aratoht as Hacket informs her of the imminent Reaper arrival, despite her failure to jump the Omega 4 Relay. Her mission brings her into contact with a figure who will redefine who she is and who she is to become.</p>
<p>AU-Differing series of events and additional character.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fortune Favours The Bold

**_August 11 th_**

**_2185_ **

**_Bahak System_ **

**_Skyllian Verge -Viper Nebula_ **

****

_Kodiak 1 – Normandy SR2 Support Shuttle_

_ETA – 12 Minutes to Drafine Prison, Aratoht_

_“_ __**Dr Kenson recently reported that she found evidence of an 'imminent' Reaper Invasion.** _ _ __**”** _ _

  


_Imminent:_ _L_ _ikely to occur at any moment._

 

The very meaning of the word was burned into Elissa Shephard's mind, her head thrown back into the Kodiak's rough leather upholstered seat, as the sheer severity of the situation finally crashed down on her. She closed her omnitool with a low curse, eyes clenched shut in desperation to hide from reality for just a moment. _It was never supposed to be like this…_

Two days ago the Normandy was currently drifting just three lightyears from the lawless station of Omega, deep within the Sahrabik system and far from the prying eyes of the galaxy. The crew putting the final touches to their calculations and theories of a weeks worth of work, for the next crucial step in the fight against the Collectors.

Elissa had made the penultimate decision to have the Reaper IFF installed only a week prior- with it- the Normandy would be fully capable of jumping the Omega 4 Relay with precision coordinates, giving them a fighting chance to make landfall on the Collector homeworld that lay hidden in the centre of the galactic core.

A feat deemed insurmountable by most, and dubbed a 'Suicide Mission' by the rest, but Elissa had set out to prove them wrong. She had gathered a crack team of specialists, ranging from a top tier assassin and a genetically modified Krogan to an Asari Justicar and even -much to everyone apprehension- a Geth infiltration model.

The Normandy itself had been re-augmented with advanced Asari designed Silaris Heavy Carbon Nanotube armour and the experimental Quarian Cyclone Barrier Technology that had been adapted to enhance their shielding. She didn't even have to mention the vicious new teeth of the ship that Garrus had managed to pull together, the experimental Thanix cannon that had already proven its worth in the way it shattered a dozen titanium laced asteroids with pinpoint accuracy. All in all the Normandy was now a top of the line Hunter-Killer frigate, perhaps even the most deadly warship of its class in the known galaxy, Reapers withstanding.

Her team was united and strong, her crew loyal and the ship as well outfitted as could be. There had been nothing else to be done asides from turn the tables on the Collectors and bring them down on their own turf, ensuring that humanity was safe for the coming years as it prepared for when the Reaper invasion finally arrived.

Of course -as was her luck- the entire plan had been torn to shreds and her entire world broken asunder by what she had thought a simple plea from Fleet Admiral Steven Hacket.

A plea that had rapidly evolved into an apocalyptic scenario.

Hacket's call had caught her completely offguard as she prepared to offer a two day shoreleave as a last hoorah for the crew. In her almost relaxed state, Elissa had been stunned when she heard not only the desperation in the head of the Alliance Navy's voice, but the actual magnitude of the event that was thought to be occurring on the edge of known space.

It was truly a godsend that Hacket believed in the Reapers, for if not, within three days the galaxy would be struck by the full force of whatever vast armada was en-route to the Milky Way, a force that no single species would be able to stand against. That horrifying revelation had pushed all thoughts of the Collectors and the Normandy's primary goal away, leading to Elissa calling everyone to their stations and having Joker make an immediate jump to the Bahak system on the very eastern fringes of the galaxy.

And here she currently sat in Kodiak 1, racing towards the surface of the hothouse planet Aratoht on a sanctioned black operation inside Batarian space, on a remote Hegemony mining colony. The Normandy meanwhile hung silently in the shadow of the crimson gas giant Bastzuda, skirting the scanner range of the Batarian naval forces stationed above the colony, and laying in wait to provide whatever support was deemed necessary for such a dangerous and controversial mission.

Hacket had stated that a deep cover operative inside SAIS had been abducted during her work within the Bahak system, a potential complication that could destroy the teetering truce that lay between the Human System's Alliance and the Batarian Hegemony. Starting a war that would likely have no winners considering the Reapers near arrival, instead all it would do is weaken the galaxies overall strength, and leave both races even more vulnerable to the coming invasion.

Two years, eleven months and six days since the battle of the Citadel came to a close, and the nightmare that had hounded her since resurrection was about to become a reality.

And they weren’t ready, not by a long shot.

The Citadel was safely secured by Vigils code and Sovereign – their vanguard – was little more than that dust in the solar winds. So she had found herself confident for the first time since Saren’s death, that maybe they could stand a chance, that just maybe life as the galaxy knew it wouldn't be extinguished through a harvest of all sentient beings for a purpose she didn’t even understand.

Of course she hadn’t taken into full account just how fractured the current political landscape of the galaxy had become.

From the time her corpse sat in the icy windswept tundra of Alchera, to the moment she regained awareness inside the Lazurus Research Station, the race relations of the Galaxies central species had deteriorated by no small degree.

Tensions had risen amongst the outer colonies of humanity, many of which had threatened independence as the Alliance pushed to instigate a larger military presence within the newly settled regions of the Attican traverse and Terminus systems, using the newly established residences as outposts. Colonies like Horizon had begun to resent the Systems Alliance’s intervention in their communities, even with the threat of the Collectors hanging over every isolated settlement outside Alliance space, many felt they were nothing but trouble and made targets of their homes by garrisoning troops on their planets.

Meanwhile the Quarian Migrant Fleet had withdrawn exponentially in the last year, actively avoiding Council surveillance and had changed their governance policies drastically; their original conservative lifestyle had been overridden, with dozens of ships being sent in search of a new homeworld far from Citadel space. Their last known position had been deep within the Valhallan Threshold, any attempts by governments within the council to contact them had been thoroughly denied. Elissa had been concerned on their brief visit to the sheer amount of supporters for open war against the Geth and the weapons research that was being so openly promoted throughout the fleet, with the Reapers coming the Quarian fleet would be needed to match the Reapers considering they had no clue as to how many of the sentient warships even existed.

On top of that the relationship between the Turian Hierarchy and Salarian union had become increasingly fragmented, arguments about withholding military intelligence and technology were the main Turian concerns, with issues about colonisation and trading within the Traverse being the leading problems seen by the Salarians. So far the Asari had yet to break the divisive attitudes of both races as they had come to a standstill with both sides threating economic embargos and an end to their military alliance.

The potentially worst set of affairs was the dangerously hostile accord that had developed between the Systems Alliance and the Batarian Hegemony over the past nineteen months, and increasingly so since Elissa’s rebirth. Both sides had been locked in an escalating cold war with multiple buildups of military forces at key relays and further fortifications within the Alliance systems of the Exodus Cluster, Arcturus stream and Horsehead Nebula. Elissa couldn’t say she was upset with the reinforcements and military stance of both races as it meant less time needed to react if the Reapers arrived, especially if the entry point to the galaxy was at the Alpha Relay – but all would be for naught if open war was declared.

Overall the galaxy was already in a state of non-civil standing; with so many conflicts and disputes building she could only hope they could turn it to their advantage.

Especially with the full force of whatever overwhelming Reaper armada had lain hidden in dark space was bearing down on the Viper Nebula and would have access to the _entire_ habited galaxy by way of the Mass Relay positioned above Bastzuda, whatever this deep cover agent had uncovered – they had a plan to at least stall the forthcoming invasion. As for how long though…. She didn’t know. Only _one_ person could tell her that.

**_Dr. Amanda Kenson_ **

Born **_2132_** , doctorate in the field of alien interstellar archaeology with a specialization in Prothean technology, graduated from Arcturus University in **_2157_** with honours and distinction. Subsequent masters in adjoining subjects of Prothean culture and history - and Prothean engineering and architectonics over the next seven years while working exclusively for Exo-Geni . Made galactic headlines when she revealed controversial findings that the vast majority of mass relays in the galaxy actually pre-dated Prothean civilization in **_2164_**. By analysing the composition of particles trapped in the vicinity of mass relays and comparing it to dust clouds in the same system, Kenson determined that only a fraction of mass relays could be dated to 50,000 years ago; the rest were far older.

As of **_2179_** she was recruited personally by Admiral Hacket who she was noted as a long-time friend after several personal collaborations between her team at Exo-Geni and the Systems Alliance when working at the Mars Archives back in **_2170_** for additional military research. She was enlisted as a long term agent for SAIS (Systems Alliance Intelligence Service) in **_2184_** after the battle of the citadel and was tasked with researching the remains of Sovereign. What little of her career from that moment that wasn’t blacklisted or classified, pointed to her working on several ancient alien artefacts scattered throughout the Artemis Tau and Petra Nebula – deep within Batarian territory.

Hacket’s information and confirmation of her discovery of actual confirmed Reaper technology was both a blessing and a curse. If Elissa could recover whatever device Kenson had uncovered and present it to the Citadel council publically, they would be completely unable to deny the overwhelming evidence and action would finally begin to prepare the galaxy for the Reaper’s arrival.

But the problem of preventing or at least delaying their imminent invasion was what loomed darkly in her mind.

Recovering Kenson from the Batarian blacksite was a simple - _albeit_ demanding assignment, but preventing the full Reaper fleets incursion into the galaxy itself – that was unfathomable, how could that even be done by one person, let alone an entire races military?

Then of course there was the wildcard underneath everything…

Hacket had been _adamant_ on her going in solo without any of her personal team for fear of discovery from a larger ground presence – an understandable choice considering the risk involved with such a high profile hostage.

Only minutes later he had revealed that a second Alliance black operative was involved and awaiting her arrival at Drafine, what little she knew was that this _so_ called **_Ares_** was concerning. EDI had transferred what available parts of his military file existed to her omnitool only an hour before departure, despite her concern that Hacket could trace the hack, when the numbers **_616_** had tagged the screen - her heart had lurched _violently_ and she understood why he had been so clipped and stiff in speaking of him.

Few inside the military knew of the **_SAIS_** drafted elite tier-1 operation teams, famous units including the **NAVSPECWAR** team 4, **MARSOC’s** team Zeta and **SOCOM’s** Section 22 – all of which were known to the public as the epitome of military special forces.

But hidden deep within the Alliance, standing completely aside from the regular special operations teams and known only to a select group of the highest ranking admirals and intelligence officials was **_616_ – ** a unit both revered and reviled throughout the Alliance. Steeped in secrecy and myth, **_616_** was perhaps the most legendary force within the entire military, so much so that few believed they actually existed.

Elissa only had knowledge as she had been offered - under complete secrecy and discretion - to join the elusive unit back in the aftermath and recovery of Akuze.

November 17th, **2177,** she’d entered her temporary apartment aboard Arcturus station - nine months after Akuze - and only three weeks since she had been cleared for active duty by a slew of psychiatrists and medics under David Anderson’s direction, to be met with a fully equipped soldier in the corner of her living room. _Prophet_ as she had come to know him - had outlined everything that was foreseen in her potential career, from her certain recruitment into **ICT** ( Interplanetary Combatives Training) and the **N-program** to her future as a possible Spectre candidate for humanity as it grappled for a place amongst the Citadel council.

After nearly an hour talking to the faceless helmed soldier, she had been offered a place amongst a taskforce designated **616** , a premier special operations unit that was to be fully denied by the Alliance. Forming a similar role to Spectres in their deployment bar the complete secrecy of their work, the soldiers would have little oversight bar the Admiral of the Fleet and the Director General of the **SAIS** as they were tasked with the most difficult and controversial assignments inside the navy.

She had declined on the spot, unwilling to turn her back on her own ideals and work in such a clandestine and no doubt soon to be notorious unit. Prophet hadn’t seemed concerned or bothered at the time, only making sure she was _never_ to discuss what they had spoken off, or the existence of **616** before disappearing from sight in a similar way to how he had arrived.

Since that fateful night, **616** had been forgotten to the fog of time, as years of training at the Villa and her time serving in **MARSOC** before Eden Prime and Saren.

Only rare whispers _, rumours_ and legends surrounded the shadowy unit, many moving amongst the higher tier units of **JSOC** and the **NAVSPECWAR** division, **MARSOC** and small echelons of the **ICT** academy.

In the time since its inception, **616** had been implicated in a multitude of controversial operations that left Elissa content in having turned them down, the most infamous and adamantly denied being the death of Camelius Artegion - a Turian Citadel council candidate, veteran of the first contact war and head of Primo Turian.

Known to humans as the ‘ _Turian First’_ political party, it had expanded exponentially after the Batarians closed their embassy on the Citadel in **2171** – taking up the mantle to oppose Humanity’s supposed ‘ _takeover_ ’ of the Citadel, after spreading rapidly since their own embassy was opened in **2165**. Leading to what few of the remaining Batarian political heavyweights that didn’t follow the Hegemony exodus from the council, throwing their full support behind it in hopes of discrediting humanity in a petulant grudge for imposing of their supposed territory and making an attempt to divide any future partnerships amongst the Turian Hierarchy and Humanity.

Noted for his undeniable popularity and respect amongst the radical anti-human groups including many of the Turian first contact veterans and Batarian dissidents, his intense racism towards humans became a common point of contention amongst most of the competing Turian political groups. In time he slowly overtook and absorbed the smaller independent groups whilst feeding the fires of prejudice to build further support for his cause, Camelius forged Primo Turian from a minor right-wing political splinter group into a powerful centrefold party in only six years – one that had the eventual influence and reach to affect Citadel law and governance at its very core through its connections.

For months while tension rose on the station as the elections for the next Citadel Council grew near, Human ambassador Anita Goyle rallied publically against the council for failing to prevent or solve a series of brutal human race killings that had engulfed the firebrand Kithoi Ward, their failure to apprehend or place any sanctions against the increasingly brazen Primo Turian and its public militant arm (the Valluvian) nearly ignited an uprising amongst the Citadel human population.

Eternal Earth and Terra Firma, the two largest pro-human parties led a series of escalating bombings of high ranking Primo Turian lieutenants and aids, attacks that only succeeded in furthering support for the party and increasing the dangerous pressure amongst the races. It soon became clear that the Citadel stood upon near open warfare between the new coming Humanity and the remaining Citadel races and few were doing anything to prevent it.

Clearly it had been decided amongst the Systems Alliance High-Command that action _had_ to be taken – though it has never been officially acknowledged and the Alliance was later deemed innocent after a through two year investigation, some still believe that the order was given for the Taralos massacre by none other than Admiral Hacket himself.

Camelius was killed on the **14 th April** only three days before the Citadel elections in **2179** after being involved cataclysmic sky car crash over Kithoi Ward, over half his retinue including his right-hand man Tiberso Caelso – who was cited to takeover Executor Falcius as head of C-Sec – were annihilated in the catastrophe. One that was later understood to have been actively conceived by a hostile force. With Camelius so high in the polls and the sheer danger Falcius represented if he took over Citadel Security meant the risk of the Alliance intervening directly even through deniable operatives had likely been taken, though to this day it has never been proven and most have come to terms and belief that the rogue terrorist organization Cerberus was truly responsible – Elissa knew otherwise.

That morning an Eezo tanker belonging to Eldfell-Ashland had smashed into Camelius’ entourage after serious malfunctions to its mass effect core caused it fall from its flight path high above the ward, the subsequent collision had ignited the unstable dark matter fuel and detonated a devastating blast that had thrown the remnants of the central motorcade that were still shielded from the explosion into the Taralos Ampitheater – the makeshift headquarters of Primo Turian.

Though Camelius was definitely confirmed to have been killed in the opening blast, most of Primo Turian’s central leadership survived the impacts of their vehicles crashing amongst the rubble of the building – that was where the true notoriety and controversy of the event unfolded. With most of their external security scrambling to find space to land amongst the wreckage and debris, what had only been presumed as a small team of incredibly skilled commandos had already infiltrated the Amphitheatre – having killed what few guards had been allocated that day upon their arrival, before lying in wait for the convoy’s destruction.

Stumbling from their vehicles in a daze, the remaining party members had been slaughtered with chilling efficiency in only six minutes as it was indicated that the assailants swept the entire imposing 1200sqm lobby in an impressive, decisive manoeuvre, executing any survivors with precise headshots before completely retreating from sight. C-sec’s forward element response teams had come upon the gruesome sight and found little evidence of an opposing force, only signs of a stone-cold bloodbath within the refined marble halls of the building.

With Camelius’s death, Primo Turian tore itself to pieces as what few candidates remained fought violently over the ensuing power vacuum. No-one could replace his legendary charisma and unique political ability to rally against humanity and by **2182** the entire party had dissolved and tensions had completely fallen, blame had been placed directly on Cerberus who were seen as separate radicals - ones that humanity had little association by the general population. The council had encouraged their beliefs after seeing a scapegoat to for such a dangerous situation – clearly happy to see a decisive resolution to the end of the horrific racial conflict that had nearly imploded on their doorstep.

Only a handful of individuals knew the truth, and no more than several hundred even conceived that the Alliance was responsible by the end of the investigation – with **616** having been accused with but quiet words and no open or direct proclamations amongst the rest of the navy. They were from then on however - forever credited with the event.

No direct commendation had ever been placed on the unit due to their elusive nature and the fact that their existence was fully denied, but many higher ranked officers and special operations teams believed they had influenced several key Alliance missions and galactic events over the last decade – including the Anhur rebellions, Torfan, the Thessica raids and even to some extent - not to her belief - her hunt for Saren.

As too how they were possibly involved – she didn’t know.

But one thing was clear, **616** was a dangerous, merciless unit of unique soldiers, tasked with only the most crucial ops in the Alliance – and if this **Ares** had been deployed, then at least Elissa could feel confident that perhaps more inside the Alliance took the Reaper threat seriously. Understanding that **616** operatives would always remain anonymous, she resigned herself to being left in the dark as to who he was, as to if he would assist or hinder her assignment was yet to be seen.

Casting a quick glance over the remaining credentials, Elissa was struck surprised as too how much was really revealed, citing several commendations through multiple campaigns in the traverse, skill assessments and recommendations – the file revealed to much information to possibly be real.

When cross examining **Ares** ’ awards however, she found a discrepancy indicating that he clearly was a false front, one covering up the operative’s true call-sign and identity behind it.

She knew that a Warrant Officer Simon Kendall had received the Colonial Service Cross on Asteria in **2181** , that fact it was awarded post-humously meant that this **Ares** was either a dead man walking or she was correct in thinking that he was operating under a second alias.

_Clever_ , working under a false call-sign meant he had a second layer of anonymity acting as a buffer between his first alias and his actual career and name – when dealing with organisations with reach and influence like Cerberus - that could be the difference between life and death. Once they knew who their target was, there was _little_ one could do but continue to evade – hiding was _not_ an option.

Closing her screen with a weary sigh, Elissa lowered her gaze to the floor and took deep calming breaths. It was a _clusterfuck_ of an op, not since the days of chasing Saren to Ilos or the facility at Peak 15 had she had such little information prior to being inserted on ground.

“ _Commander, just broke atmo’ of Aratoht. So far stealth field is holding up, approach to Drafine LZ is about two mikes. Get ready._ ” Elissa breathed harshly out of her nose, flaring her biotics briefly to test her response before twisting her breather helm in her hands to face her.

“Solid copy Samuels, as soon as I’ve disembarked I want you back on the Normandy. EDI does the facility still have an adequate number of shuttles?”

_“Yes Shepherd, arrival logs state nine Batarian KTR Deployment shuttles in the upper hanger. All are prepared for departure and I have the necessary launch codes, as long as you remain within the Normandy’s signal range, my cyber-warfare protocols will be able to hack into the Hegemony battlenet and mask your position from the Batarian Defence forces scanners on your exfiltration from Aratoht.”_

Elissa blew out a relieved sigh; as long as she and **Ares** could get Kenson to the hanger they would be in the clear once they were airborne – that was reassuring. “Understood, thank you EDI.”

“Joker, keep clear of Yunaca’s orbit. Just stay put until I extract Kenson - _understood_?” She grinned at Jokers petulant tone as she placed the helm on, listening to the hiss of the seals before her HUD lit up in a bright crescendo of vivid blue.

“Yeh, Yeh… Alright _mom_ , I’ll behave. Not like I’ve done this several hundred times or anything.” Chuckling quietly, Elissa pulled the suppressed M-96 Mattock of her back – checking the thermal clip for the fourth time before taking up her stance to move in front of the shuttle troop bay door.

“Just keep everyone safe, let’s make this _quick_ and _quiet_ \- before you know it we will be jumping the Omega 4 relay and taking the fight to the Collectors.”

“Oh joy… _can’t_ wait.” Elissa huffed in amusement at his sardonic tone, bracing herself as the shuttle began to decelerate.

“Joker…”

“I meant aye, aye commander, good hunting down there.” Feeling much lighter and with a wry grin, Elissa steeled herself as the shuttles rear thrusters began to flag; she could feel the dropship twist as it turned to make a fast landing amongst the secluded Hegemony naval boneyard.

“ _Commander 10 feet_.” Elissa pushed forward on her heels, preparing to depart as efficiently as possible, the biggest risk to her detection was the shuttle being spotted by a foot patrol – so getting clear of her LZ was essential. Despite EDI ensuring her that the area was abandoned with only the rusty skeletal remains of a Hegemony Fleet Xetic Carrier and a small strip of wild vegetation standing between her and the bases lower access tunnels, she was decidedly grim face about this operation – applying Murphy’s Law was her best bet, having done so since Akuze for good reason.

_Anything that can go wrong – will go wrong._

“ _Feet down , good luck commander_.” The hatch burst open as Elissa stormed out onto the sodden marshy earth of Aratoht and moved to cover under a jagged plate of warped metal, taking to her knee immediately as she scanned the area – keeping a close watch for movement until the Shuttle broke orbit behind her with a roaring boom that coincided with a crack of thunder - as the storm above grew more intensive.

EDI had briefed her for a torrent of rain and lightning over the next four hours planetside, but she hadn’t expected the intensity. She was now engulfed in a deluge of thick blanketing water that smothered her visor in dense, hazy waves of liquid. With her sightline somewhat clear to her understanding, Elissa dashed forward towards the ancient maintenance ladder leading up the wrecked side of the decrepit Xetic carriers’ corpse – eager to escape exposure to the harsh elements.

Under the cover of the tempest that raged violently across the valley, Elissa slipped through the silent, blackened hangers that lined the decommissioned ships starboard hull – casting quick glances to the shadows as she set a steady pace across the dusty, decaying floor with light feet. The only sounds aside from her breathing - was the constant ringing of rain on the decomposing metal around her, the occasional peal of thunder that echoed loudly through the ships hollow carcass and the creaking of the titanium alloy as the weather continued to wear away the oxidising hulls integrity.

Coming to a halt amongst the vast, empty engine room, Elissa took a step to the edge of the platform, gazing out over the clustered structures of the Drafine Prison far below her perch. From her position atop the edge of the desolate remains of the ships propulsions systems, where once a huge mass effect core and powerful FTL engines would have been mounted – Elissa had a clear unobstructed view across the valley despite the continued downpour.

Nestled amongst the vine riddled cliffs and thick jungle, Drafine was a depressing series of crumbling concrete buildings, riddled with exposed rusting rebar that snaked through the structure remnants like sickly orange veins. From orbit it would look nothing more than a deserted military installation, the defensive perimeter walls having collapsed and what would have been a CIC centre being left demolished in the centre of the base as nothing more than an imposing landmark of debris and ashes.

Elissa knew better, even from a distance she could spot the telltale glow of active lighting and feel the hum of emanating mass effect shields along her biotic barrier. According to her schematics the small garrison had sectioned off half the base into a makeshift prison, barring the lower levels by weakening the tunnels and shattering the concrete ceilings to block access. What few remaining entrances that still existed according to EDI had been barred by advanced laser grids, judging by the amount of power been generated on the surface by turbines, there were at least a dozen to be dealt with at first glance.

Her RV point was a clearing just a click from the eastern perimeter tower, surrounded by an impenetrable canopy of dense trees it was an ideal meeting point, despite the fact it was on a direct patrol route. **Ares** or whoever he was – was likely waiting in the twisted treeline, if he had remained undetected for this long she could only hope he had a decent amount of recon data gathered in his spare time – as she was currently working of EDI’s orbital readings and what little available information she had gleamed from amongst the Hegemony battlenet.

Slowly descending the last of the Xetic’s wreck, Elissa hit the ground at a thorough pace – keeping a close eye on her suits motion tracker as she skirted the edge of the ridge leading into the jungle. Coming to a halt on a small craggy bluff, she went down to a knee as she withdrew her Solar LR-32 rangefinder – tagging the approach and distance to her HUD; Elissa sat back on her haunches in thought.

Her slow, wary slug through the boggy waters that sat stagnant below the treeline led to the small rocky outcrop that housed the meeting point atop it, carefully pulling herself free of the warm, tepid, bug infested mire – Elissa raised a cautious pair of eyes to glance over the fractured stone lining the top of the elevation.

She cursed silently as her gaze met a small squad of five heavily armed Batarians clustered around something dug into the ground, she kept a close eye as the group conversed quickly – before she startled at the growl of a large scarred Varren. Abandoning its meal of what she could only presume had been a human at some stage, it growled in a deep throaty whine as it locked eyes with her from across the clearing – having clearly smelt her scent on the northern wind.

The call of a curse from the closest Batarian had her grasping her sidearm immediately, drawing it up as he reached for the comlink in his open helmet. She didn’t even consider the fine sheen of electricity that danced over her skin, or the powerful draw of dark energy from above the treeline. Before she could draw the M-5 Phalanx, she jolted in surprise as a huge biotic dome formed over the Batarian fireteam – her last image being the burst of a bright blinding flash amidst their group and a huge black figure falling on to the furthest troopers back as her visor adapted to the overwhelming blast of light.

 


End file.
